The present invention relates to an irrigator for colostomy patients comprised of a bag for receiving flushing liquid and a drainage line.
Such an irrigator is used by colostomy patients in order to perform an intestinal flushing or irrigation. With a careful irrigation a secretion-free period of up to 48 hours may be achieved whereby this secretion-free period depends greatly on the remaining length of the patient's intestine and further patient-specific parameters.
The commonly used irrigators are comprised essentially of a bag which at its upper portion is provided with at least one suspending eye. The bag is further provided with a funnel-shaped means so that filling with tap water is possible without difficulties. A drainage line is connected to the lower portion of the bag which widens into a cone and can be closed off with a clamp, for example, a roller clamp. For performing an intestinal flushing the bag is filled with water and suspended from a wall hook so that due to the elevational difference between the bag and the cone a pressure is generated which is sufficient for the intestinal flushing process.
With this known irrigator it is disadvantageous that a suspension device must be provided at a suitable location. This cannot always be ensured, for example, when the colostomy patient is traveling. Improved irrigators are provided with a check valve at the water inlet, however, when the bag is accidentally dropped from the suspension device and is accidentally impacted at the water inlet a failure of the check valve may not be prevented because, on the one hand, it must be freely movable in order to be opened by the inflowing water and, on the other hand, it is incorporated into the essentially very flexible bag.
For eliminating the disadvantages of the actually very flexible and universally employable irrigators, an electric irrigator has been developed which operates according to a somewhat different principle: instead of a bag a water tank is provided. A stable and stiff housing contains the water tank, a controllable pump unit and electronic controls as well as a voltage supply. The electronic controls regulate the output of the pump. In the known device the voltage supply is in the form of accumulators which must be recharged after each flushing process.
This electric irrigator is essentially independent of any location so that a suspension device is not required. Furthermore, the shut-off clamp for the drainage line is eliminated. However, the device is so heavy that it has not been successful in practice because especially when traveling an additional weight load of, for example, more than 1 kilogram is an unbearable load for a colostomy patient without traveling companion. Furthermore, the accumulators of the device are depleted after a one time use. It is possible to recharge the accumulator with a respective recharging device, however, this is an additional load that must be carried by the colostomy patient. Also, in order to be able to recharge the accumulators, the colostomy patient, when traveling is dependent on a respective electrical outlet, with the recharging process commonly requiring about 10 hours. Furthermore, due to the well-known properties of accumulators the recharging process should be initiated immediately after completion of the irrigation which further impairs the traveling flexibility of the colostomy patient.
The operation of such an electric irrigator solely with batteries, respectively, replacement batteries, is not suitable for a plurality of other reasons.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an irrigator of the aforementioned kind which combines a more flexible handling with a higher safety and reliability without requiring additional costs or substantial weight additions.